There were many Cheers as Vinita Bali was appointed the new MD of Britannia Industries Ltd. on January 3, 2005. Her appointment to head one of the most high-profile domestic companies is seen as significant given the paucity of women leaders in the top echelons of the Indian corporate circles. Bali, is already imparting a facelift to the company's top management. Bali is a highly qualified Manager with national and international experience. She received her Bachelor of Economics degree from the Delhi University and her MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai. She pursued further studies in business and economics at the Michigan State University on a scholarship from the Rotary Foundation and was selected to work as a graduate intern at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

She began her prolific career with Voltas Ltd, a Tata Group company focusing on consumer products. In 1980, Bali joined Cadbury India, where she had a successful career. Her performance in India earned her a position at Cadbury UK from 1984 to 1986. She came back to India for five years heading the marketing function as General Manager, Marketing. In 1992, she was posted to Cadbury Nigeria as Director, with responsibility for both sales and marketing. In 1993, she was named head of marketing, South Africa, which is Cadbury's third-largest market. She also served on the boards of Cadbury Nigeria and Cadbury South Africa. The Coca-Cola Company chose it as its worldwide Marketing Director in 1994.

She was responsible for worldwide strategy for Coke and one of the key players in helping the soft drink giant double its growth rate. In 1997, she was promoted by Coke as Vice President of marketing for Latin America. In 1999, she moved to a profit and loss responsibility as President of the Andean division with retail sales in excess of $1 billion, covering Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. She was responsible for transformational change encompassing business direction and organisational culture. Now, she is working her magic in Britannia as well. With talent and credentials to match it, Bali has brought success on a platter for Britannia.